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Myanmar's media in exile

The Democratic Voice of Burma has become an information lifeline for millions in Myanmar

As the strongest show of dissent in nearly 20 years unfolds in Myanmar, people inside and outside of the country are more desperate than ever for reliable information on what is happening there.

With the military government's tight control on reporting, many listen avidly to overseas broadcasters - effectively Myanmar's media in exile, operating from several countries in Asia and Europe.

One of the most influential is the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), run by a small group of journalists based in Oslo, Norway.

Risks

DVB has stepped up its radio and TV and broadcasts as the protests have grown

The founders of DVB and most of the team members are dissidents who fled Myanmar's military rule almost two decades ago.

These are busy times at DVB, with undercover reporters ringing in from home and listeners calling from all over the world to offer or ask for the latest information on the increasingly tense situation in Myanmar.

Aye Chan Naing, the editor who oversees DVB's operations, was a student leader during the 1988 protests that were brutally crushed by the military.

He knows his reporters on the ground are taking enormous risks.

"They of course all are undercover," he told Al Jazeera.

"They are now hiding in different places… they don't sleep in their home. "When the demonstrators come out in the day time, they all come out and film or report back to us."